eCommerce

Brand-building expert and consultant Denise Lee Yohn has released her annual outlook for the year,  “Brands to Watch in 2015.”

Looking to capitalize on the immense popularity of the PBS show Downton Abbey, Cost Plus World Market is having an online tea party and expanding its range of Downton Abbey products just in time for the holiday shopping season.

New York - Lululemon on Thursday will open  a 5,766-sq.-ft. flagship at Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif..  The visual centerpiece of the store is an intricately-laid domed mosaic ceiling—in a vibrant blue hue—that reads, "Breath deep & appreciate the moment."   The storefront boasts a colorful, two-story, illuminated glass corner.

Houston - JLL has appointed Naveen Jaggi as president of JLL Americas Retail Brokerage. Jaggi comes to JLL from CBRE, where he was a senior managing director of Retail Services.

In his new role at JLL, Jaggi will oversee more than 100 brokers, spanning 25 major markets, who serve the firm’s 500 retail owner and occupier clients. Jaggi is also tasked with creating deeper integration, collaboration and consistency across the Americas retail platform and globally.

Vera Bradley has announced a new head of store development as it looks to reimagine Vera Bradley into a premium global lifestyle brand.

Harry Cunningham, who has nearly 25 years of experience in store design and visual merchandising, has been with Saks Fifth Avenue since 2006 and most recently held the post of SVP of Store Planning, Design and Visual Merchandising. Prior to that, Cunningham held various visual merchandising roles at Liz Claiborne, Saks Department Store Group and Dillard's.

Washington, D.C. – In-store sales were down from Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday, but the culprit may have been early holiday shopping more than lackluster consumer interest. According to the Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) Index of U.S. same-store sales, in-store sales dropped 5.8% during that two-day period compared to the previous year.

In an effort to bolster its online presence, Loehmann’s has appointed a digital retail expert to join its advisory board. Tony D'Annibale, president of Jessica's Brands, will work with the board and the management team during the Loehmann’s re-launch as an online retailer.

New York – Black Friday was a more social event than Cyber Monday, with 3.5 million tweets and 838 million impressions compared to 839,000 tweets and 309 million impressions. According to a study from StatSocial, women were more likely than men to socially comment on both events, accounting for 59% of

Black Friday comments and 63% of Cyber Monday comments.